While the blockbuster deal that's amped to put Windows
Phone 7 on all Nokia smartphones --essentially phasing out Symbian and making
WP7 the world's second-most popular mobile OS in its place -- is supposed to
benefit both parties involved, it has thus far been met with mixed reaction.

The day
the deal was announced Nokia's shares dropped 14 percent, and a number
of employees -- many on the beleaguered Symbian side -- used the company's flextime
program to go home early.

Then, at
the Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona over the past weekend, Nokia CEO
Stephen Elop was forced to go on the defensive, Business Insider reports, after an audience member asked if he
was a Trojan horse.

"The
obvious answer is no," Elop replied. "We made sure that the entire
management team was involved in the process, and of course the board of
directors of Nokia are the only ones that can make this significant of a
decision about Nokia. They made that final decision on Thursday night."

The
question was an obvious reference to Elop's past at Microsoft, where he was an
executive for two years before taking the top spot at Nokia. To some, it may
seem a little strange that Nokia would make such a partnership with Microsoft,
particularly after its 10-year investment into Symbian.

Elop also
had to defend his shares of Microsoft stock, which Business Insider reports
to be approximately 130,000 shares worth nearly $3.18 million.

Conspiracy
theorists received additional ammunition Friday, when Nokia announced Chris Weber as its new president
of Nokia Inc. (US) and head of the North American market after current
president, Mark Louison, "decided to leave Nokia and pursue new career
opportunities." Weber spent 16 years at Microsoft, where he held executive
positions as high as corporate vice president.

While
solid details of the agreement between the two companies have not been
released, news surfaced over the weekend that sheds light on just how big the
deal is. According to Computer World, while
showing a slide that portrayed Microsoft's investments flowing in Nokia's
direction, Elop said, "the value transferred to Nokia is measured in Bs
not Ms." Meaning, Microsoft pay-out to Nokia in the deal would be in the
billions, not millions, of dollars. No additional details were given, like over
how many years the investments would take place.

We also
learned that Google was actively pursuing Nokia in what could have been a
similar deal, but Microsoft won out, according to Elop. "If you
combine the current market share of Android with the market share that Nokia
could deliver to Android over the next couple of years, it’s a very large
number. One could believe the mobile industry thereafter would be some form of
duopoly," Elop said. The decision to go with Microsoft over Google was
made to change the dynamic and make it "a three-horse race," as Elop
said. Presumably, the multi-billion-dollar investment doesn't hurt, either.

As for
availability, a top executive told Computer World that the
first WP7-powered Nokia's will be available this year.

"What would I do? I'd shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders." -- Michael Dell, after being asked what to do with Apple Computer in 1997